Astaro offers free web security to protect school children in India

In a bid to curb cyber-threats among children, Astaro facilitates primary and secondary schools in India with complimentary web security software as a part of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)

Astaro, Europe’s leading Unified Threat  Management (UTM) company, today announced the launch of an education programme aptly named “Astaro SpyderWeb SchoolGuard Programme” as part of the company’s CSR initiative. The programme offers Astaro’s industry leading Essential Firewall and a three-year web security subscription for free to primary and secondary schools across India.

With the SpyderWeb SchoolGuard Programme, Astaro aims to protect young children in India from cyber-threats, including instilling responsible Internet usage habits as well as allowing schools to block or control access to potentially malicious and explicit websites.

On this occasion Mr. Sunil Sapra, Country Manager – India & South Asia, said “In an increasingly cyber-connected age, it is important to educate and protect young children in cyber space, especially in schools, where they spend most of the time.

We feel that many schools in India may not have the sufficient funds or resources to install sophisticated security software; this is a need we want to fill by offering our web security software at no cost. Parents and teachers can now have peace of mind that their children are protected by Astaro and can securely explore the Internet in their schools.”

”We hope, exploring the benefits of Astaro’s robust web security software in the school will also influence the teachers and parents to secure their homes and workplaces,” he further added.

The Essential Firewall and three-year web security subscription will provide primary and secondary schools access to Astaro’s full suite of web filtering. This allows schools to monitor their students’ activities online, scan for viruses and malware, as well as block selectable categories of Web usage and Internet sites. For example, schools can block or minimize access to peer-to-peer (P2P) applications, instant messaging applications and other social networking sites as per their needs.

Asia is increasingly exposed to cyber-attacks, spurred on by the growth of IT infrastructure and broadband access in the region. According to a report from non-profit US cyber-crime research organization Team Cymru, countries in Asia are now facing the same level and type of cyber-attacks as the countries in the west. Edison Yu, Frost & Sullivan’s industry analyst, ICT practice, Asia Pacific, suggests that users are sometimes the source of attacks; they are voluntarily keying in their personal information online. This is seen particularly on social media platforms and instant messaging programmes.

Primary and secondary schools in India can participate in the Astaro “SpyderWeb SchoolGuard” Programme by registering with Astaro premier partners/ India distributor M/s. RAH Infotech or sending an email to  india@astaro.com.

Astaro embraces open source practices, and continually supports the open source community through funding and manpower for open source projects, or making available free security solutions. Most recently, Astaro launched the Essential Firewall edition of its flagship security solution Astaro Security Gateway and made it available for free to all enterprises worldwide.

For more information about the Astaro SpyderWeb SchoolGuard Programme, email  india@astaro.com.

About Astaro
Astaro offers the most complete and easy to use Internet security appliances available. Astaro’s award-winning products provide the latest protection with the best total cost of ownership. Software, hardware and virtual appliance offerings provide users the flexibility to meet a wide variety of deployment scenarios. Distributed by a growing worldwide network of more than 2,500 resellers, Astaro products protect over 100,000 networks across 60 countries. For more details:  www.astaro.com